Clear Weather after Snowfall - Red Gate at Hongo — 雪晴（本郷赤門）
by Shotei Takahashi (1871-1945) Hiroaki

	Artist:	Shotei Takahashi (1871-1945) Hiroaki — 松亭高橋、弘明
	Title:	Clear Weather after Snowfall - Red Gate at Hongo — 雪晴（本郷赤門）
	Series:
	Date of first edition?:	1926
	Publisher (first edition)?:	Watanabe Shozaburo — 渡辺
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Watanabe — 渡辺
	Medium (first edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (first edition):	Oban
	Format (this edition):	Oban
	DB artwork code:	37756
	Notes (first edition)?:	Artist Hiroaki Title Red lacquered gate at Hongo Date Of Work 1926 Publisher Watanabe
	Notes (this edition)?:	The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies: Friday, 27 May 2005 Shin Hanga: Red Gate at Hongo Artist: Takahashi Shotei Format: Oban yoko-e: 10.25" x 15" approx Subject: A snow scene with two gentlemen walking and a coolie pulling a rickshaw past the temple gate. Shotei has harked back to the past for this design executed in the aizuri palette of Prussian blue. Publisher: Watanabe Date: 1936 Condition: Full size. Paper skinned at four corners from a previous mounting. Minor creases, marks and flaws. Generally good state. Colour: Fine Impression: Very fine of the 1st edition with gauffrage. This design is usually to be found in later editions without the publisher's seal.
	Artist Bio:	Takahashi Shotei was born in Tokyo with the given name of Takahashi Katsutaro. At a young age he was trained in Nihon-ga , the traditional Japanese painting style by his uncle Matsumoto Fuko, and beginning around 1907 Shotei started designing for the Watanabe Color Print Company. Shotei was among the first designers to be recruited into Watanabe's stable of artists, which would later expand to include Goyo, Shinsui, Hasui, Kasamatsu, Koson and Koitsu among others. Many Watanabe prints were designed for export, primarily to North America, where the demand for all things Japanese was high in the early 20th century. By 1923 Shotei had produced nearly 500 designs for Watanabe, when Tokyo was hit by the Great Kanto earthquake -- the worst recorded natural catastrophe in the history of Japan. The fires ignited by the earthquake raged for three days, and Watanabe's print shop and all the woodblocks created by Shotei and the other early shin hanga artists, were destroyed. After the earthquake Shotei created another 250 prints mostly depicting scenic Japanese landscapes in the shin hanga style he had helped to define. He continued to work for Watanabe, but also worked with the publishers Fusui Gabo and Shobido Tanaka, where he had more control over the finished print than was possible with Watanabe. Shotei used a variety of names, signatures and seals during his lifetime. From 1907 until 1922 he used the name Shotei, and after 1922 Hiroaki and Komei.